Cookies, clouds and color bowls

South of Bellinham on I-5 through car window.

As promised in my last post, here are some cloud photos that I took in my corner of Washington state over the past month. I often go back to my photos when I need color inspiration, and skies provide unlimited inspiration for the abstract work that I like to do.

Pulling together fabric and yarn from the photo's colors.

We were hurtling down I-5 last week in a rain storm, Dave driving and me stuffing my face with a custard-filled Bismarck from Rocket Donuts. (Click on that link to see a mouth-watering photo of every donut on the menu.) The sky was getting really interesting, but I couldn't take a photo and hold the donut at the same time, and it was too messy to put down. Then the brilliant yellow-orange in the top photo broke through the gray and I threw that donut down, grabbed the camera, and started clicking away. This next photo is from the same stretch of highway:

Same stretch of road, same hour, vastly different sky.

Bellingham sunset, just south of Western Washington Univ.

The fiery sunset above and below was in Bellingham last month, and I made everyone wait to go out for pizza while I excitedly snapped away. You can be sure I'll pull these out for a color fix this winter. I think these clouds look like big soft pillows.

Same Bellingham sunset, looking in different direction.

Coiled fabric bowl under construction.

During drab days -- like today -- I like to make my "color bowls." Here's one that I worked on today. I finished it by sewing two rounds of uncovered red cord to create an interesting rim. I'd like to sew a whole shelf full of sunset bowls. (I'm never up early enough to see sunrises, although that would be a nice inspiration for bowls.) I added it to my holiday bazaar stack, along with the Sulky Solvy scarves.

I took these two photos at Crescent Lake in the Olympia National Park last month. The bottom photo was taken about 14 hours after the top photo.

These two were taken during our hike on Mt. Constitution on Orcas Island. You can see all the way into Canada and to Mt. Baker and Mt. Rainier from the mountain. Take a close look at the middle island below. See that little white rectangle along the bottom edge of the island? That's a ferry.

I love the way the clouds seem to mimic the landforms -- great potential for art quilt design ispiration!

I just found this little book at a natural history museum and am going to use it to learn my cloud formations. The author, Gavin Pretor-Pinney, is the founder of The Cloud Appreciation Society, a global organization that fights "blue sky thinking." (Although I have nothing against blue skies.) He lives in Somerset, England. Check out the website, www.thecloudappreciationsociety.org for some fantastic cloud photos.

Last but not least ... the cookies! I haven't had many food photos in the blog lately because my kitchen buddy, Julia, isn't home. But last night's chilly, rainy weather forced me to whip up a batch of chocolate chippers and eat a half dozen warm from the oven. You do what you gotta do.

Hope this post has inspired you to look up and see the clouds.

Have a colorful day